Robert Stein (1950)

Robert Stein (1972)

Robert Stein (2000s)

About Me

editor, publisher, media critic and journalism teacher,
is a former Chairman of the American Society of Magazine Editors, and author of “Media Power: Who Is Shaping Your Picture of the World?” Before the war in Iraq, he wrote in The New York Times: “I see a generation gap in the debate over going to war in Iraq. Those of us who fought in World War II know there was no instant or easy glory in being part of 'The Greatest Generation,' just as we knew in the 1990s that stock-market booms don’t last forever.
We don’t have all the answers, but we want to spare our children and grandchildren from being slaughtered by politicians with a video-game mentality."
This is not meant to extol geezer wisdom but suggest that, even in our age of 24/7 hot flashes, something can be said for perspective.
The Web is a wide space for spreading news, but it can also be a deep well of collective memory to help us understand today’s world. In olden days, tribes kept village elders around to remind them with which foot to begin the ritual dance. Start the music.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Bright Lights and Breast Cancer

Simon and Garfunkel's "Hello darkness, my old friend" has taken on new meaning with reports of a study that women exposed to bright noctural lighting have higher breast cancer rates than those who spend their nighttime hours in unlit surroundings.

By overlaying satellite images of Earth on geographical reports of cancer, Israeli scientists tested the hypothesis that exposure to excessive light at night can raise the risk of breast cancer by interfering with the brain's production of a tumor-suppressing hormone. They found "a clear and strong correlation."

Previous studies of nurses, flight attendants and other night workers found breast cancer rates 60 percent above normal. As a result, the World Health Organization recently classified their work as a "probable carcinogen," putting the night shift in the same health-risk category as exposure to toxic chemicals.

Scientists believe melatonin, which the body produces primarily at night, may be the answer. Levels drop sharply in the presence of light in that part of the spectrum emitted by computer screens and fluorescent bulbs.

Now that the risk has been identified, the search for ways to minimize or eliminate it can begin.